By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Mt. Edgecumbe High Lady Braves volleyball team defeated the Sitka Wolves in the championship match of the Southeast Region V Tournament on Saturday to advance to next weekend’s state championships in Anchorage.
The Lady Braves won in four sets, 25-20, 22-25, 25-20, 26-24 for the title.
“It was a great tournament,” Mt. Edgecumbe coach Michael Mahoney said. “Sitka fought for every point and came out hitting hard Saturday.”
According to Mahoney the Lady Braves did a great job of chipping away at the leads a gutsy Sitka team had in the fourth and final set.
Sitka had led 10-4 and 15-7 but Mt. Edgecumbe came back to tie the score at 19-19, setting the stage for a down-to-the-wire finish.
“We showed a ton of heart Saturday and also proved to ourselves that we can change the momentum of the game,” Mahoney said. “The Lady Braves have become a mentally resilient team and now believe that they can come back from any deficit in a match if they fall behind.”
Senior Shayna Warnke-Green had 10 kills for the Lady Braves, sophomore Brody Wysocki 8, senior Amy Bioff 7, senior Tyra Brown 7, senior Haley Sweet-Cushing 6, junior Vernae Ramoth 4, and senior Grace Garner 1.
Sitka senior Miah Dumag had 11 kills, senior Avery Voron 9, senior Joei Vidad 6, senior Abby Forrester and freshman Chloe Morrison 3 apiece.
Sitka’s Abby Forrester and Chloe Morrison attempt to block Mt. Edgecumbe’s
Brody Wysocki during the Region V tournament. (Sentinel Photo)
Brown led Mt. Edgecumbe with 3 blocks, Sweet-Cushing 2, Bioff and Ramoth 1 apiece. Sitka’s Vidad had 8 blocks, Forrester 2, senior Kenzie Fredrickson, Voron, and Morrison 1 each.
“Shayna and Amy had a great tournament hitting-wise,” Mahoney said. “And it was great to have Tyra back on the court after a three-week injury stint. She played great and was a huge presence on the net along with Haley and Vernae.”
Bioff had 24 service attempts for Mt. Edgecumbe, Wysocki and Sweet-Cushing 16 apiece, Warnke-Green and Carlson 15 each, and Garner 11. Wysocki totaled 5 aces, Sweet-Cushing 3, Warnke-Green, Garner, and Carlson 1 each. The top Sitka service attempts were Voron with 21, Forrester 16, junior Tiffany Elefante, junior Tamara Zankiz, and Dumag 13 apiece, and sophomore Antonete Partido 9. Partido and Elefante had 2 aces each, Dumag and Zankiz 1 apiece.
Sitka’s Tiffany Elefante and Miah Dumag dig up a serve in the Region V Tournament in Juneau. (Sentinel Photos by Klas Stolpe)
According to Mahoney, the Lady Braves’ Wysocki, Garner and sophomore Angelina Ong had their best serve receive passing performance of the season, combining for just four errors all match.
Wysocki also led the Lady Braves with 23 digs, Garner had 19, Ong 8, Warnke-Green 6, Joeli Carlson 5, Ramoth and Bioff 4 apiece, Brown 3, and Sweet-Cushing 1. The top Wolves’ were Elefante with 24 digs, Dumag 18, Voron 8, Partido 7, Forrester 6, and freshman Zaeda Dumag 4
Bioff led Mt. Edgeumbe with 22 assists in the match, Carlson added 11, Brown 5, Garner 2, Ramoth 2, and Sweet-Cushing 1. Sitka’s top assists went to Fredrickson with 15.
Mt. Edgecumbe’s Bioff, Skaflestad, Brown, Garner, Sweet-Cushing, Bell and manager Makayla Myers made the All Academic team with GPA’s over 3.0. Ong and Ramoth were selected to the Good Sport team for their sportsmanship.
The Lady Braves Bioff, Garner and Sweet-Cushing and Sitka seniors Avery Voron, Joei Vidad and Miah Dumag were named to the All Conference team.
Mt. Edgecumbe had opened tournament play with a 25-17, 25-23, 25-10 sweep of the Wolves on Friday setting up the final match.
Mt. Edgecumbe, the number-one seed from Southeast, begins the Alaska School Activities Association 3A Volleyball State Tournament action on Thursday against the Grace Christian Grizzlies, the number-two seed from the Southcentral Conference. The teams have met earlier in the season with the Grizzlies sweeping the Lady Braves.
“We need to go out and be aggressive,” Mahoney said. “I would say that you could add Grace Christian to the list of challengers for the state championship but you never discount anyone at the state tournament. Everyone has been beaten at some point this year and we have been competitive with everyone we have faced. We have greatly improved since we last played Grace. They won’t even recognize our team.”
The Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves, the Southeast Region V volleyball champions, pose with their championship trophy in Juneau on Saturday. Front row, from left, Amy Bioff, Angelina Ong, Grace Garner and Joeli
Other tournament number-one seeds are the Nikiski Bulldogs (Southcentral), Valdez Buccaneers (Aurora), and the Barrow Whalers (Western). Tournament number two seeds are the Homer Mariners (Southcentral), Monroe Rams (Aurora), and Nome Nanooks (Western).
The tournament is a double-elimination format, meaning a team can continue to challenge for the state championship until they lose their second match.
The Thunder Mountain Falcons (Southeast No. 1) won the 4A Region V Championship over Juneau-Douglas and will open state tournament double-elimination play against West Anchorage (Cook Inlet No. 2).
Teams include Dimond (Cook Inlet No. 1), South Anchorage (Cook Inlet No. 3), Soldotna (Northern Lights No. 1), Colony (Northern Lights No. 2), Wasilla (Northern Lights No. 3), and West Valley (Mid Alaska No. 1).
